Facebook is SO interesting. Only a few people read our post on
- A COUNTRY WITH MIDWIVES, CHOICE, INFORMED CONSENT AND HOME BIRTH https://www.facebook.com/BirthingBetterPinkKitMethod/posts/10153040608895573
- YOU WANT A MIDWIFERY MODEL OF CARE? https://www.facebook.com/BirthingBetterPinkKitMethod/posts/10153045228020573
How curious. There is so much chatter and political energy put into getting midwives into the maternity system for the past 45 years in the US. You’d think people would want to know exactly how a maternity system run by midwives actually works. But no, no interest. How interesting.
So we get to chat about these things with the hope people wake up to the fact that midwives cannot solve the problems in childbirth and obstetricians are not to blame. So, where does the blame lie?
Well, there’s no blame. Midwives have not caused the sharp rise in the C/S rate since they took over control of the maternity system. Well neither have the obstetricians. After all pregnant women only see an obstetrician in New Zealand on referral from their primary care midwife. No one wants to blame pregnant women. But there has to be something wrong with the system. Well, in reality, perhaps modern women can just no longer give birth. That’s nonsense of course. There is something wrong.
SOCIETY
That’s actually what’s wrong with the New Zealand maternity system. There is absolutely NO societal expectation that expectant families learn birth and birth skills. There is even NO societal understanding of this concept. It’s not like NZ society knows that birth and birth coaching skills change childbirth. New Zealand has never had a Skills-based Childbirth trend. There have always been midwives instead of obstetrical nurses. The big difference (and it is a big difference) is that midwives are now independent of the medical profession, have their own professional group, organize their own education and standards of care.
New Zealand midwives control all of maternity care and that’s terrific. Every family has a continuity of care and primary care midwife/small team. Women love having one birth professional see them throughout their pregnancy, during the birth and 6 weeks post partum. It would be great if every country would model their maternity system after New Zealand. This can’t happen until New Zealand’s society sorts out their approach to childbirth.
In New Zealand there is a Choice-based Childbirth trend. The Midwifery Model is based on a Partnership with Women (with fathers and family being secondary …hum). A Partnership works best when it’s balanced. Right now midwives go to school for 4 years and women write a Birth Plan … hum.
While NZ midwives have gained professional success, NZ society has not woken up to a need for a Skills-based approach to every pregnancy and all births. Our New Zealand charitable Trust has certainly tried since 1996 to get midwives to buy into the concept that the Partnership Model can be strengthened by growing a skilled birthing population. It’s such a simple concept and so easy to implement.
IMPLEMENTING A SKILLS-BASED CHILDBIRTH TREND
In New Zealand this would be incredibly simple
- The Government can supply all midwives with multiple copies of the known skills-based resources
- The midwifery professional organization can include in it’s handbook on practice a skills-based approach to every pregnancy and birth.
- Each family who books a midwife is told that a conventional Birth Plan will be formulated and the family is expected to choose one or more of the skills-based resources, learn, practice and show what birth and coaching skills are being learned. Then a Skills-based Birth Plan is also written.
- During The Birth the midwife encourages the woman and husband/other to use the birth and coaching skills they’ve learned.
The New Zealand Midwifery Model of Care has not exactly failed any more than the obstetrical model of care has failed … neither have in any country. New Zealand has an advantage over other maternity systems for pregnant women who love having their own continuity of care midwife even when there is need for obstetrical care. Other countries have midwifery care but it’s not continuity of care for all pregnant women and pregnant women love having one provider they see throughout pregnancy, birth and after birth.
Without a doubt New Zealand’s maternity system is the best in the world. Yet the system does fail as well … and that’s the next post.
Here’s a link. This link will be put on all the posts. Kristen has 6 kids, the last 3 are PK babies. She KNOWS about birth and is one of our affiliates. That means if you purchase The Pink Kit through her she gets a commission. Her husband Scott’s first baby was her first Pink Kit experience. He’ll explain how The Pink Kit made certain he was able to become a skilled birth coach to a woman who had previously had three great births! You can find their interviews on our YouTube channel.
Kristen’s written a time-line calendar for use of The Pink Kit. You just need to sign up to her mail list (we don’t keep a mail list) and she’ll send you the Time Line. She’s worked through both Edition #2 and #3 of The PInk Kit so she knows all it’s imperfections and la-dee-dahs past them to the skills she wants to improve for each birth. Can women and men have better births each time? Sure can! The more skilled, the more we master the experience.
http://blog.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/pink-kit-timeline-from-natural-birth-and-baby-care-com/
Please join the Movement to grow a Skills-based childbirth trend. Don’t’ let another birth go by without that family being skilled